We first tried this on the terrace of a restaurant in Lucca, just outside Pisa, and we were very impressed with the sheer elegance and simplicity of it all.

The Italians would eat this as a middle course, in between their starter and main course, but we often use it as a simple one course meal seved with some crusty bread to mop up all the lovely juices.

1 lb (450 g) Palourde, Small Clams or Cockles
2 Tablespoons Flat Leaf Parsley Chopped
1 Small Red Chilli De Seeded and Finely Chopped
2 Cloves of Garlic Finely Chopped
2 Tablespoons of Lemon Juice
1 Wine glass of dry White Wine
4 fl oz (110 ml) Olive Oil
3/4 lb (340 g) Spaghetti or Linguini

First of all, Clean and scrub the palourde, if nescessary discarding any that  are open and refuse to close when given a sharp tap with a knife.

Chop everything. This will cook very quickly, and it will be much easier if everything is ready and to hand.

Next, fill your largest pan with salted water and bring to the boil, add the spaghetti and cook according to the directions on the packet.

Whilst the spaghetti is cooking, put the olive oil in a small pan on a very low heat, and add the Garlic and the Chilli. Low heat is important. We do not want to fry the garlic, we need to gently soften it.

Put the Palourde in another pan on a high heat, add the wine and put the lid on. Cook untill they are open, and discard any that do not open.

Now put the chopped parsley in the oil, garlic and chilli. Again we need only to soften the parsley, not cook it, and it needs to be in the olive oil for a short time only to preserve it's bright green colour.

By now the Spaghetti will be cooked, so drain it.

Add the lemon juice to the olive oil, and the liquor from the cooked Paloude, season with a little freshly ground black pepper and salt if you think it needs it.

Put the cooked palourde in the large pan with the spaghetti, pour over the olive oil mixture and combine.

Serve in bowls with crusty bread.